Planning with Experts

Experts agree, buying or selling a home is a complicated and lengthy process you enter into to achieve your ultimate goal. Experience has proven that knowledge is your best ally in successfully navigating your way through this process. Because this specialized knowledge is camouflaged in myth, misinformation, misplaced trust and confusion, personally investing time in acquiring and applying the knowledge is the surest and safest way to proceed. Without this knowledge, the probability of long delays, unnecessary risks, simple yet costly errors and high levels of frustration increase exponentially.

A Better Way To Approach A Real Estate Transaction. “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”.  The real estate transaction is a process. It is a series of smaller transactions, each very crucial for different reasons.  Each smaller transaction requires specialized knowledge of how that individual part works into the larger transaction.  To make confident decisions one has to understand each of the smaller parts and the different ways they impact the process. Only by accepting this elementary fact, choosing your agent carefully yet retaining personal responsibility over the outcome can we break the pattern. Click here to learn the details.

Let’s look at some specific questions sent in by DearMonty readers from across the country. Read more Q&A articles about the “Planning with Experts” stage of the Home Selling process:

  • Why do real estate companies want to buy our house?

    Dear Monty: Why do real estate companies want to buy our house? We are not planning on selling our home just yet. One of the curious observations we have is that real estate companies have started to promote buying our home within the last year. The idea is that by selling directly to a real…

  • Does for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) work?

      Dear Monty: Does for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) work? I recently read an article that lambasted homeowners for even thinking about selling on their own. We recently sold our home without an agent. The article did not depict how the marketplace works today, based on my recent experience. I saw it as a hit-piece written by a…

  • Eight topics to consider when buying an Airbnb investment?

    Reader Question: We are a four-person group wanting your opinion on topics to consider when buying an Airbnb investment. We have invested in other commercial property types, but this would be our first bed and breakfast. The six units generate an eight-percent cap rate. 2019 was the first year in service. There are numerous significant…

  • Consider renting in today’s out-of-control real estate market

      Reader Question: Is America in a housing bubble? We think today’s out-of-control real estate market is crazy. We are attempting to downsize our lifestyle with a smaller home. In two instances, we made an offer, and someone outbid us. Our home is free and clear, so we are cash buyers. We don’t want to…

  • Should I consider selling my house to an iBuyer?

    Reader Question: I own my current home. I am having trouble selling it. iBuyers say that they will pay fair market value for a home and take care of all the issues that give me problems. Should I consider selling my house to an iBuyer? Monty’s Answer: Whether or not it is feasible or a…

  • Eight categories of real estate agent motives

    Reader Question: A recent article you authored titled “What’s wrong with real estate” was insightful. The overview described conditions that contribute to the real estate sales environment. We will be selling our home soon and feel that expanding on the agents would help us understand real estate agent motives. Can you drill down to the…